


Superhero Tales - Outrun

by J_A_Phillips



Series: J.A. Phillips' Starverse [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Australian Slang, Gen, Original Character(s), Original Superhero - Freeform, scientist, speedster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 14:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16348199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_A_Phillips/pseuds/J_A_Phillips
Summary: A one-shot about one of my original superheroes. Ever heard of a speedster that DOESN'T have powers? If not, you have now.





	Superhero Tales - Outrun

Stanley Davidson let out a sigh as he entered his small, modest laboratory, flipping the main lights on. He'd had to move whatever he could into this location after the grant had run out on his last project. It did not exactly look like the high point of his scientific career. Still, at least the Golden Rock University was willing to reach out and give him the funding needed for his next project, even though the previous one had been ruled a failure.

Looking around, Stan saw the various notes he'd written both on paper and on white boards laid all about the room. This time, he had decided to scale back a bit and focus on making better hazard suits for emergency rescue crews. They'd be able to enter far more dangerous regions in search of those needing rescue from ship wrecks or plane crashes and come out unscathed. He just needed to figure out just the right balance of protection and mobility.

Before he could get right to work, however, Stan heard his cellphone ringing. Fishing it out of his pocket, he took a look at the number showing up. It showed a Sydney phone number, and he immediately recognized whose it was. With a smile, he answered the phone, holding it to his ear and saying "Hello?"

"G'day to ya too, Stanley," a thick, elderly, female Australian voice replied. "So, only a few months living in America, and ya've already dropped our way of speakin' for theirs?"

Stan rolled his eyes, fighting back the urge to chuckle. "No drama, Mum, I'm just trying to make sure I don't slip back into Aussie and leave the folks here wondering what I'm talking about."

_And a couple of other reasons,_  Stanley thought to himself, glancing over at a steel cabinet nearby.

"So, how's life back in Straya?" Stan asked, looking over his notes on the suit he was making.

"If ya bloody care THAT much, why'd ya go and piss off to America, then?" Mrs. Davidson demanded of her son.

"The resources I have here are much better than anything I had back in Sydney," Stan explained for what had to be the 100th time. "And they're definitely helping a lot with this new project of mine."

"Yes, well, at least ya dropped that daft Project: Runners of yers," Stan's mother retorted. "Ya know how many people still stop me on the side of the road and ask 'Oi, Olivia, has yer bloody daft galah son managed to run the whole way 'round the world yet'? Bloody Sydney asses, they are."

"It's Project: Outrun, Mum," Stan reminded his mother while pinching the bridge of his nose. "And if you hate the people in Sydney so much, why not just move back to the Outback?"

"And miss the looks on their faces when ya finally make somethin' that goes and changes the world?" Mrs. Davidson inquired. "Don't be a drongo, son."

Stan smiled a little at this. His mother irritated him at times, what with her overly sarcastic and at times outright mean demeanor, and the over-reliance of Australian slang that even most people who lived in Australia would ask her to tone down a bit. Still, she did right by him, and ultimately believed that he would do right by her and anyone else that he could. He appreciated that more than he could ever say.

"...So, um...has there been anythin' on Eric yet?" Mrs. Davidson asked hesitantly.

Stanley's smile faded, leaning back against a table. "...Still comatose. The doctors are doing all they can for him, but...Well, we'll see."

Stan hated having to lie to his mother, especially about someone he considered to be his best friend. Granted, it was completely true that Eric Jacobs, his friend and colleague, was currently in the hospital with a coma. Still, he had to lie about the reason why, saying that Eric was involved in a terrible car accident. But he knew he couldn't say the real reason why Eric was in such a state. Stanley could handle the consequences it would bring upon himself...but not the ones it would bring upon Eric.

"...Stan?" his mother demanded right after a shrill beeping sound sounded throughout the lab. "What the bloody hell is that?"

Stanley looked over at the largest monitor in the room, which showed a map of the city of Golden Rock River and had a red, blinking indicator over the First Golden Rock Bank. "Ah, just something on the fritz! I gotta go take care of that right away!"

"Right, right, shouldn't keep ya from yer crazy mad science," Mrs. Davidson joked. "Love ya, Stanley."

"Love you too, Mum!" Stan said hurriedly. "Bye!"

Hanging up his cellphone, Stan quickly hit a few keys on his keyboard, stopping the beeping and pulling up an image of inside the bank. Sure enough, there was a robbery in progress. He even recognized the ringleader: A man wearing a blue winter coat over a black, insulated body suit and a neoprene ski mask with a visor, and carrying what looked to be a grenade launcher. The man they called Freezebang. Switching the image to show just outside the bank, Stan saw a police car partially frozen over on the curb, crashed against a light post.

Narrowing his eyes, Stan grabbed a small remote and pressed a button on it, causing the steel cabinet to slide open, revealing a blue, gold, and black suit inside. It's true, his previous project had been ruled a failure...because he told his colleagues that his intent to make a suit that could generate a bio-electrical field capable of allowing someone to run at supersonic speeds, and protect them from external forces as they did so, simply couldn't be realized. Because he had kept information from them about how the source of the suit's power, Velocitrom, had proven even more effective than he'd ever dreamed. Because he'd learned the hard way that, in the wrong hands, such technology could be used, not for the benefit of mankind, but for its detriment.

Immediately disrobing, Stan slipped into the blue and gold bodysuit. He then slid on the black boots, gloves, and belt, the latter of which hummed to life after turning the large dials on the sides slightly. Lastly, he put on the black headset, a yellow visor sliding over his eyes as he put it on. The visor immediately began giving readouts of everything around him, a screen coming up in the top left corner that showed the best route from the lab to the bank.

Turning the dials on his belt more, Stanley watched as the suit's bio-electrical field expanded around him before fading from the naked eye's view. He then pressed another button on his remote before pocketing it, causing the front door of his lab to open automatically. With the way out of his lab made ready for him, he planted his feet hard before taking off into a run, the door shutting and locking behind him a split-second later.

Project: Outrun WAS over. Now, there was only Outrun, the fastest person on the planet.

* * *

Francis Graham, known on the streets as Freezebang, watched through the ice blue-tinted visor of his mask as his men started unloading the money in the bank into sacks. As they did, he kept watch for the police, and kept an ear out for any sort of disturbances. He even had his cellphone showing him images sent to him from cameras that he'd stashed across the city, letting him know if there were any police headed his way long before they ever showed up.

As he watched, however, Freezebang noticed something odd appear in the footage: Some sort of blue and gold blur speeding through the city. His eye twitched, having recalled hearing stories about such a blur. Specifically, about how it tended to go after crime scenes, and, when it was gone, the criminals were left easy pickings for police officers.

"Keep at it," Freezebang ordered through the voice filter in his mask. "We've got company."

"How many, boss?" one of the thugs inquired, tying up a full bag.

"One," Graham answered, loading his trademark weapon.

Another of the men scoffed. "Just ONE? You're worried about one-"

Before the goon could finish, the front doors of the bank were thrown open, the Blue and Gold Blur racing into the bank. Freezebang fired a grenade from his gun, hoping to catch the target in the freezing solution that was released from said grenade, but he was too slow. Within seconds, all of Francis' men were strung up to the banister heading to the upstairs area, and the grenade simply froze part of the floor. Seeing this, he instead reached into his coat, pulling out his hunting knife. Just as he got it out, though, he found himself the recipient of a punch to the gut, forcing him back a couple of steps. However, he still managed to stay on his feet, and had little more than a bit of wind knocked out of him, much to the shock of the person who punched him.

"Bloody hell!" Outrun declared, giving his wrist a shake. "That bodysuit of yours is no joke! What's it made out of?"

"...Wouldn't YOU like to know?" Freezebang answered stoicly, swiping at his foe with his knife, only for Outrun to leap back out of the way with plenty of time.

_Okay, DON'T tell me, then,_  Stanley thought, reaching up to his visor's controls and setting it to scan Francis' suit while also recording the fight.  _But this is WAY too good an opportunity to pass up._

Rushing Graham again, Outrun unloaded punches into the bank robber's chest, watching as he tanked blows that would've ended most boxing matches. Instead, Freezebang eventually got ahold of the Blue and Gold Blur's arms and threw him into the side of a garbage can that was set up nearby, knocking it over. Outrun was quick to his feet, expecting to be attacked again. However, instead of rushing the man much faster than him, Freezebang was unloading freeze grenades around the floor, icing it up.

_He's smart,_  the young scientist observed with a smirk.  _He knows he can't match my speed, so he's instead trying to get me to exhaust myself while turtling up, and using my own momentum to bring me down with judo and ice traps. But, he made one mistake: He thinks I'm only planning out attacks on a 2D playing field._

With that in mind, Outrun started rushing around the circular sheet of ice that surrounded Freezebang. The grenade launcher-wielder started unloading more blasts, less with the intent of hitting Outrun and more to hopefully trip him up with the ice covering more and more of the floor. Unfortunately for him, the Gold and Blue Breeze was now not only speeding up, but was no longer just running on the floor, leaping and dashing across the walls and the ceiling as well.

_What does he think he's doing?!_  Francis wondered, baffled.  _He can't hit me from up there, so why...OH._

Just as Freezebang figured out the plan, Outrun sprung off the wall and propelled himself like a human torpedo. Before Freezebang could get his arms up, he found himself getting tackled right in the gut and knocked to the floor, sliding across the ice he'd made and crashing into a counter. As he tried to get back up, Outrun, who had slid along with him, punched him back down, cracking the visor of his mask.

"...Oh, it's some kind of titanium-dipped weave," Outrun observed as the scan on the body suit ended. "But it looks like your tailor messed it up. The weaves come apart too easily."

"Apparently so..." Francis groaned, putting a hand to his gut.

"Tell you what: I'll put in a good word for ya in prison, and then we can talk shop?" Stanley offered, carefully getting to his feet as the sound of sirens came from the front.

"Eat a dick," Freezebang answered.

"Alright, fine," Outrun muttered, hopping over the counter and running out the back door of the bank. "...Ass."

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was something I've been planning to do for almost a month now, but because I've been working on a few different things all at once over on Deviant Art, well, something had to wind up getting put on the back burner, and sadly, it was this.
> 
> Anyway, Outrun was co-created by me and my friend David from Australia. Sadly, I haven't been in contact with him in a really long time. With all of the speedsters in comics these days, I decided that Outrun should really be one who doesn't have powers of his own, but instead is able to go super fast through a device/suit he created. So, in other words, he's The Flash without powers of his own. Really, I suppose in that regard, and with him being a straight-up scientist, he's probably more akin to a Ray Palmer or Hank Pym, with the latter being one of the versions that's actually likable. :P And, as for Freezebang, he's more of a straight-up expy of Captain Cold, with a few additions and subtractions to both his character and personality. I figured, as a scientist, Outrun's enemies should really be tech based, and serve not only as mirrors of him, but also as inspiration for new things to create to help people.
> 
> Anyway, lemme know what you think of this one-shot, and if you'd like to see any more for him or other characters I've made in the future...Also, I apologize to anyone from Australia who might be insulted by Outrun's mom. lol


End file.
